Public sentiment towards data centres appears to have worsened over the past two years, even as understanding of what the facilities do has improved.

That’s according to a new Telehouse survey, which found that just 37% believe data centres have a positive impact on the digital services they use at home or work, down from 48% in its previous research in 2024.

It wasn’t the only negative sentiment towards the data centre sector recorded by the survey either. In fact, the proportion viewing their impact negatively has risen from 4% to 15%, while concern about the amount of electricity data centres consume has increased from 45% to 56%.

More than half of respondents, at 55%, also consider the negative environmental impact of data centres to be ‘significant’.

At the same time, fewer people say they are unclear about what a data centre is or does. That figure has fallen from 67% in 2024 to 59% in the latest survey. Telehouse also says awareness of the term ‘data centre’ has increased from 40% to 52%, 

Greater visibility brings greater scrutiny

Telehouse’s first survey was conducted before the UK Government designated data centres as Critical National Infrastructure, but since then, the sector has become considerably more visible.

That’s mostly down to the Government’s push to expand the UK’s AI infrastructure, while the electricity, water and land requirements of new developments have attracted greater political and community scrutiny. There is also a growing swell of opposition to data centres online – rather ironically. 

That debate has intensified recently. Earlier this month, the Green Party called for a moratorium on most new UK data centres, alongside mandatory reporting of electricity and water consumption, tougher environmental standards and greater community involvement in planning decisions.

All of this scrutiny comes despite the potential benefits that the data centre sector brings to the UK economy. After all, AI is an inevitability and either the UK takes its slice of the pie, or it lets others reap the benefits. Thus far, the UK has been successful in attracting investment, with it being the third largest AI market in the world, but growing opposition could stunt that growth. 

That’s why the industry has been keen to improve public perception, but Telehouse argues that its latest findings show the industry needs to go further and explain more clearly how data centres support digital services and how their environmental impacts are being managed.

Mark Pestridge, Executive Vice President and General Manager at Telehouse Europe, noted, “Awareness is an important first step, but these findings show it does not always translate into confidence.

“People want to understand how their services are supported, how their data is managed and how the industry is addressing energy use and sustainability. As an industry, we have a role to play in closing that gap by working more closely together, being more transparent, engaging openly with the public and communities and doing a better job of explaining the value data centres enable.”